LETTER. FR.OM WASHINGTON THE NEWCOMER Senator John Edwards is this season's Democratic rising star. BY NICHOLAS LEMANN T he 2004 Democratic Presidential campaign began more or less offi- cially a few weekends ago, at the state conference of the Florida Democratic Party; in Orlando. So many Democrats are already running flat out for Presi- dent that it was a relief to have the race come out into the open. AI Gore was to speak at the conference, and the advance word was that it would be his most po- litically partisan speech since the 2000 election. Gore's appearance, at such a resonant location, dominated the con- ference, and on a lengthy bill of speakers he got the best time slot, midday on Sat- urda)T. (In fact, because things were run- ning late several speakers were bumped to make room for him.) Most of the po- litical talent on display mingled casually with the conference-goers, but Gore maintained the charged scarcity that be- fits a top act. He appeared onstage after a dramatic buildup. Florida's junior senator, Bill Nelson, introduced him. The public- address system played a thumping rock anthem. Many of the delegates held up signs that said "Still Gore Country!" Peo- ple were standing on chairs and chanting, "' T G , ,, d " G . L". , ,, V ve want ore. an ore in lour. And the prospect of seeing Gore emerge, after more than a year of what John Up- dike once called (in another context) a "meaningful silence," was indeed excit- ing. It made for a good illustration of the power of branding: Gore is the most fa- mous Democrat after Bill Clinton; he comes loaded with emotions. The kind of speech that Gore gave is an art form with a lot of rules, like the sonnet. You have to be relatively brief- half an hour is the limit. You have to devote a good portion of that time to a series of required rhetorical exercises: You have to thank your introducer for that generous introduction. You have to praise your spouse and children. (Prais- ing your mama and daddy is optional.) You have to tell a humorous story about 58 THE NEW YOR.KER., MAY 6, 2002 yourse which involves your falling prey to some hint of pretension and being deftly deflated. You have to thank the Party's leading figures and express the hope that the entire ticket is victorious in the fall. You have to say that you can feel the energy in the room. You have to insist that you stand foursquare with Presi- , - - --- -"" . . ""t .". oJo.". . . ,':,_. ". <. " ;) \ . ::0.. -, - ",.\. , ' . , '. ., ;... (\ I \ \. '. '..: ' ..,. " ",,' . . }:;',\\ ' . . \ 1'. " "' "... \, '\'" \ ',. \. when you really get going, but you may not remove your necktie. During this portion of the speech, you may also ini- tiate a call-and-response routine with the audience, in which it shouts the same answer three or four times to a series of questions posed by you. You have to end with a call for restoring the American dream. When you're done, you have to bask in the glow of the audience's ap- plause, raising your arms above your head, palms forward, in a gesture that expresses something between triumph and self-effacement. Gore has been a politician for a long time now-he made his fust race for of- fice at the age of twenty-eight (he's now fifty-four)-and, if you count his Vice- Presidential campaigns, 2004 would be '. :."fi, .'".;;. ',,, . ".' -J. ,,: ..' ....;. '" .. .. ".. .'. ." , " .' -......... '\ '" ...... , \ .:'.: ..! . . " ..... .\ . ,... , .... ... . ' ". """'\ ,.,. "-- . : ;.. '. ... . : ':.r.". .:r; , "..y: . . .....-a>. : '"'> . .1>:' ; " " ...:-:'.. '" . 1,",1. . ," ,. .... ....-..-. 3 .......i :.......'}., :t:\\.; '" . '. ') : f . :: : :' ........\ . .. " .: . ,' <i 1:': ":-..:.,,- ",,' ^ :. ::.- ji .." " ' :"c .,' '!".: ," , .. ->,,,,-. For Edwards, politics seems to be hot, confrontational, and entertaining. dent Bush in the war against terrorism. You have to express concern, however, about prescription-drug costs and the long-term health of Social Security and Medicare, and call for smaller class sizes in public schools. You have to tell an Arthur Andersen joke and, because of the location, a Disney World joke. You may, if you wish, strip off your suit jacket midway through your speech, his fifth-in-a-row quadrennial national political campaign. He knows how to do the required stuff In Orlando, he used the time left over to deliver a cri- tique of George W. Bush's Presidency, focussing almost entirely on domestic issues. Gore has always given the im- - pression of being much more interested 2 in government policy than most politi- ; cians, and in Florida you got the more